Calculate distance based on parallax angle or baseline measurement.
Input Parameters
Calculation Results
Enter parameters to calculate
About this calculator
Quick Reference
1 pc3.26 ly
1 AU1.496 × 10⁸ km
1 arcsec1/3600 degree
Overview
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight. In astronomy, it is used to measure distances to nearby stars.
💡
Pro Tips
Stellar parallax uses the Earth's orbit diameter as a baseline.
A parsec (pc) is defined as the distance at which one AU subtends an angle of one arcsecond.
The larger the parallax angle, the closer the object is.
!
Fun Facts
"Alpha Centauri, the closest star system, has a parallax of 0.76 arcseconds."
"The Gaia spacecraft is measuring parallax for over a billion stars with micro-arcsecond precision."
"The word 'parallax' comes from the Greek word 'parallaxis', meaning 'alteration'."
